Kim Wexler
|Category = Yes}} Kimberly "Kim" Wexler was one of the key litigators at Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill. However, Kim’s personal history with Jimmy complicated their working relationship, often putting her at odds with Howard Hamlin and Chuck McGill, threatening her promising career and eventually putting her in Hamlin's doghouse. This forced her to reevaluate her place in HHM and leave, settling up a practice of her own, in conjunction with Jimmy, separate apart from expenses such as rent and resources. Despite this, because of Jimmy's and Chuck's feud, she finds herself still in the middle of her former boss and Jimmy. History Background Information A smart and hardworking lawyer with an ambitious mindset, Kim Wexler has worked her way up from humble beginnings to become one of the go-to litigators at Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill. Kim's history with Jimmy complicates their working relationship, however, leading to her falling out of favour at the firm, before leaving to join him in a separate but together arrangement to allow for their differing styles of practice. Even so, Jimmy can't keep their relationship strictly romantic when his rivalry with Chuck heats up, putting Kim squarely in the middle whether she likes it or not. Season 1 Due to Hamlin's and Jimmy's dispute, Kim keeps her distance in public away from Jimmy while he makes his 'dramatic' speech and keeps her amusement to herself as much as she can. However, after the meeting, she takes a smoke break and goes down to the garage where she rights the trash can that Jimmy has kicked and dented and joins him out leaning agains the wall of the car park. She lights a cigarette and smokes it, allowing Jimmy to take a puff before he puts it back in her mouth ("Uno"). Kim is given the Kettleman case, which Jimmy had had his eye on before they decided to go with HHM. He's not pleased to have 'lost' them to the firm, but acknowledges that it's not fair to blame Kim for that ("Mijo"). Kim then receives a puzzling, rambling call from Jimmy poking around her new clients. It's the early morning, so she doesn't necessarily find it suspicious until the next day when it seems like her clients have vanished. She calls him to the scene. He shrugs off her attempts to connect their phone call the previous night with the Kettlemans' leaving. Some time later she finds out that Jimmy's been arrested and one of his clients is suspected of kidnapping the Kettlemans. Upon finding out he was Nacho's lawyer, the police 'let him go' and try to convince him to get Nacho to confess. But Jimmy refuses despite the pressure, which convinces Kim to agree to let him go back to the scene. When it looks like Jimmy's story and arguments aren't going to be enough to convince the two cops, he finally tells Kim the truth, that he warned the Kettlemans that Nacho might try to hurt them and they took off. Kim believes him but getting that across to Hamlin or the cops was going to be impossible if Jimmy wasn't going to tell them the truth. Eventually, Jimmy finds the Kettlemans and when they turn him down, they go back to Kim ("Nacho"). While Kim is working in her office, Hamlin comes in and asks her to come with him. She does only to be brought to a provocative sign depicting Jimmy looking very much like Howard and his initials looking very much like HHM's. She hedges on being called Jimmy's friend, though Howard assures her that he doesn't much care about that. He sends her to bring him a notice that he'll be bringing him to court about it. She does, going to the nail salon and sitting in a massage chair. She warns him that this feud isn't going to be one Jimmy can win, though Jimmy doesn't seem impressed. Instead he points out how undervalued she is at HHM and that she deserves better, implying that she should be going into business with him. Kim refuses. After Hamlin successfully gets the court to decide with him, they both realise the truth behind Jimmy's ad: Jimmy is somehow filming while he has to 'save' the man supposed to bring it down and now it's all over the news. It's an act of showmanship and both of them can't help but admire the ploy ("Hero"). Kim hears about Jimmy's day while he, with mixed success, paints her toenails. Dismissing the notion that she'd do better with all her toes the same size as her big toe, she tells him how she envies his interesting life. He promises to do something about that when her phone rings and it's Hamlin. Chuck is in hospital and she goes to support Jimmy and Chuck. When Jimmy is practically manhandled out of the patient's room because he kept turning off the electricity, Kim explains about Chuck's electricity allergy. She witnesses the doctor's proof that it's likely a psychosomatic reaction and tries to help Jimmy decide whether or not to have Chuck committed for his own good. What really makes Jimmy's decision though is Hamlin's arrival and she stands back, not wanting to get involved in the dispute ("Alpine Shepherd Boy"). When Jimmy decides to get a new office, he takes Kim to view it, taking her by surprise by offering her a corner office. She's broken hearted when she has to tell him the practical truth: that she feels as if she owes HHM for financing her becoming a lawyer and she predicts that she'll make partner in two years. She can't go into business with Jimmy as much as she likes him. She meets up with the Kettlemans, laying the situation out for them: with the disappearing act they pulled, Craig Kettleman has to go to prison for sixteen months (rather than a possible 30) and the money has to be returned. Betsy is not interested in even admitting that there is any money, much less consign her husband to prison, so she promptly fires Kim and leaves despite Howard chasing after them begging them to reconsider. She is in the doghouse with Howard, but despite even Jimmy , now representing the Kettlemans, on her side, Betsy refuses to budge. She accepts Jimmy's apologies about it, understanding he's caught. She explains the deal she'd gotten for them and that the evidence against Mr Kettleman was substantial: he even signed the money to his name. A few days later, Jimmy calls Kim: she has the Kettlemans back and they've agreed to go ahead with her plea deal. Kim is extremely grateful for whatever Jimmy did ("Bingo"). She's back in Howard's good graces, enough for him to grant her a cameo in the background of his press conference and a return to her office. Working late at night, Kim gets a call from Jimmy, who immediately starts on the smooth talk. She calls him out and he asks her to print out some things for him. She wonders how this going to be paid for because it's hours of work and is surprised to find out that Chuck has decided to pay the tab. She expresses concerns about Chuck's condition but is convinced to do the printing ("RICO"). Kim's worries seem unfounded when Chuck seems able to come to the office, albeit with all the lights and electronics needing to be turned off. Chuck's arrival seems like a watershed moment and the office offers him a round of applause when he arrives. They meet in the conference room so that Jimmy and Chuck can explain the class action lawsuit they've found dealing with the residents in Sandpiper care homes. Despite Jimmy's expectations, Hamlin refuses to take Jimmy on as a lawyer and the meeting falls apart. This has pricked Kim's sense of fair play, which makes her put aside her private policy of keeping her relationship with Jimmy out of the office. She goes to Howard and puts Jimmy's case to him and asks why Jimmy deserves to be shafted. Howard initially dresses her down in response, but as she makes to leave, relents and asks her to return where he tells her the truth. Armed with the truth, Kim is nonetheless unable to tell it Jimmy, but feels she must do something. She goes to the nail saloon and defies his expectation that she's there to simply back him up. She asks him to take the offer Hamlin had given him: to be paid for his trouble, and takes his betrayed diatribe without complaint. She insists again that he takes the deal and leaves("Pimento"). Jimmy eventually finds out the truth himself: that Chuck sabotaged his attempt to join HHM as a lawyer, both back when he initially passed the bar and again with the Sandpiper leverage. When he decides to take the deal with this information, he apologises to Kim who explains that she didn't want him to hate his own brother. When the Sandpiper case gets bigger, HHM has to involve another law firm, Davis & Main. She and Hamlin put Jimmy's name forward and they're interested. Kim calls Jimmy to tell him that they have an offer for him and it's for a partner track. She tells him when they want to meet him and he thanks her ("Marco"). Season 2 She and Hamlin are waiting inside the courthouse for Jimmy to show up. He does, but after a brief introduction, he takes Kim aside and asks her outright whether or not his taking the job will affect their chances together. Kim is taken aback and gives the appropriate answer to the question as best she can: that no, it wouldn't. Armed with this information, Jimmy passes on the opportunity. Unable to understand Jimmy's decision: one that she would have snapped up in a hot moment in his position, Kim tracks Jimmy down and finds him floating in a posh hotel's swimming pool under an assumed name, "Mr. Cumstan". Obviously he has no intention of paying his hotel bill himself. Jimmy's invitation to join him falls on deaf ears but she does want to talk to him, so she invites him to head to the bar. Once inside, he orders the prohibitively expensive tequila, Zafiro Añejo, but Kim, mindful both of her ethical duty as a lawyer and wary of Jimmy getting himself into more trouble in this seeming midlife crisis, intercepts the order and asks for something more in their price range. Jimmy insists that this isn't a crisis, but a reaction to his no longer needing to live and die on Chuck's approval any more. Becoming a lawyer was only a way to impress him and that failed, so he's decided to return to his 'real' self, 'Slippin' Jimmy'. Kim points out that he was an excellent lawyer, despite his reasons, but Jimmy is convinced that the only part where he excelled was the same part that was good at conning. He decides to illustrate his point and he has a prime target - Ken, the man who's so obnoxious and loud that his car will get blown up by Walter White in the future. He's no less annoying now, boasting into his phone about his recent successes so Jimmy has no problem thinking of him as prey for him and Kim. He interrupts his call, asking him to settle something between him and 'his sister', indicating Kim. Kim initially holds back, but when asked for a name she gives him 'Giselle'. With Jimmy as 'Viktor', he and Giselle ask him for a financial consultation. Warming up to the situation, Kim coyly suggests the tequila that Jimmy tried to order before. Ken, believing he has a couple of ripe ones on his hook agrees, unaware of how expensive it is. The bottle drunk, Victor and Giselle make their exit, making sure they're long gone when Ken finds out the bad news. Kim and Jimmy are giddy from their successful con, and not a little drunk, so they find themselves grinning at each other. Kim finally takes the plunge and kisses Jimmy. The next morning, however, with Kim putting on her 'uniform', she remembers her responsibilities. Getting involved in a scam and then sleeping with Jimmy was a lot of fun, but she's a lawyer, and one that has to answer to a lot of variables, including the fact that one of her bosses has been systematically lying to Jimmy because he resents him so much and the other has just has his generous efforts refused by him. It's a complicated situation and she has to thread carefully. So she shuts Jimmy's suggestion of a repeat of the previous evening down. Jimmy doesn't argue and leaves her apartment with her. Later, though, Jimmy leaves a message in Kim's phone that he has another mark for them. Kim doesn't respond, so Jimmy comes to the conclusion that taking the job in Davis & Main was, in fact, what he needed to do for Kim ("Switch"). Proving, for the moment, that this is true, Kim makes sure for their first big meeting between the two firms she and Jimmy are seated together. During the meeting, the pair seem attentive above board, but below are content to play footsie. After the meeting, they go to the garage for a cigarette, where they enjoy imagining what Jimmy is going to do with his newfound perks in Davis & Main. Kim delights Jimmy with including herself in Jimmy's new dream life. Cigarette smoked, Jimmy goes for his car but Kim stops him to give him a gift. Jimmy gives her grief about her 'wrapping' also known as a brown paper bag and pulls a face as the '2nd' markered in by a certain Kim onto a World's Best Lawyer travel mug. She just gives a comical shrug and tells him she's just keeping it real. Jimmy kisses her and gets into his car, fitting the mug into his holder. In the next meeting of the two firms, Kim and Jimmy are again sitting together, which is fortunate, because now they're having to surrender their electronic devices - a sure sign that Chuck is coming in. Jimmy confidence, previously high, shudders to a halt. Kim reminds him that she's there, supporting him, by squeezing his knee. It does the trick and Jimmy rallies to finish the meeting. Later, Jimmy comes to Kim's apartment to share on his 'props' for getting his client out of trouble. Kim is initially amused by the story of his client trying to explain away his suspicious activity but when Jimmy confesses that he manufactured evidence to make the story stick, she balks. It's not a moral objection but an exposure one. By making the video himself, he's risking his new job at Davis & Main and disbarment. Kim doesn't want to tell him not to do these things, but she has to make sure he knows that she can't hear about them. He agrees to not tell her ("Cobbler"). When Chuck continues to attend meetings, he starts to undercut Jimmy's methods. His success rate at getting clients onboard is suspicious and, despite the fact that he had nothing to say about it when it was just the two of them, Chuck worries about Jimmy using illegal solicitation to get clients. Kim withdraws from Jimmy as well, in the face of the accusation, so Jimmy tells the meeting that he'll try to avoid the appearance of solicitation in the future. After the meeting Kim tries to avoid him, but he follows her. She gets him to admit that solicitation did happen and is annoyed that she has to explain that it's not about how legal it is, but it's about how much risk Jimmy is taking when he's finally getting acknowledgement as a good lawyer. She also points out that she got Howard to vouch for him, so what he does will reflect on Howard who will reflect that back on her. Jimmy found another way to get responses, a advertisement that he gives Kim a private screening for. She is full of praise for the ad. She's surprised that Cliff gave it the green light but accepts Jimmy's "Why wouldn't he?" as a response. The next time Kim and Jimmy are over in his apartment, they are watching Ice Station Zebra and having takeout and wine. It's a pretty cozy situation until Jimmy's mobile rings. Kim is reluctant to let Jimmy answer it, but it's the boss and that worries her. When the call is done, Jimmy reassures her that it's only for congratulations, even at this time of night, and she accepts that as the truth as he goes to sit back beside her and finish the film ("Amarillo"). But the next day, Kim is called to a meeting with both Chuck and Howard, finding out from them that Jimmy actually did an end run around Cliff to get the ad made. She lies for Jimmy's benefit, responding to an angered Howard that she didn't think it was necessary to warn them. Howard sends her to document review as punishment and she takes it, working late into the night to where Jimmy, who'd been trying to contact her, found her. He wants to get her out of the mess he's thrown her in, but Kim isn't having it, making him promise not to go to Howard. She's going to do her time and get out of there herself ("Gloves Off"). Kim starts to ignore Jimmy's messages, including the one that declares he's found a way for her to get out of doc review. But of course, he knows where to find her and tells her his idea in person that she should sue HHM for how badly she's been treated. Kim is not concerned about whether or not she'll win such a case but about the fact that even if she does, she'll have killed her career dead. No one will work with her if she turns against the firm which paid for her education and gave her work. She also doesn't appreciate Jimmy coming to her rescue, even offering to quit Davis & Main for her. Sure, his actions may have been responsible for her current fall in favour, but she was the one who decided to make the push to vouch for him and it'll be her that'll get herself out of this. She does ask him to do one thing: survive a week without breaking the rules of the Bar Association or making his boss angry and don't kid himself that he's doing this for her benefit. Kim spends her lunch breaks shilling for clients to bring to HHM and let her out of the doghouse. Initially, she strikes out, but eventually Paige Novak comes through for her, bringing her client Mesa Verde Bank and Trust to HHM with her. Kim is delighted, meeting Paige and Kevin Wachtell, the CEO, with Howard by her side. The meeting is successful, but when they see them off and Kim starts offering to draw up a list of people to work on the case, Howard cuts her off, saying that she would be too busy working in doc review to do that. Kim is left starting to wonder if she's ever going to get back in Howard's good graces. But she goes back to work, finishing at sunrise, leaving documents off at Howard's office, which, much to her surprise, disturbs Chuck, who'd taken to coming to the office when no one else was there, to spare the office the trouble of his presence. He asks Kim to get him coffee as he has no other way to get it at the office without electricity and invites her into his office. He explains that they have something in common: Jimmy compromising them. He also tells her about his father, in his eyes a good, but naive character, owning a shop, which had a $14000 shortfall. He suggests that, despite his father's protests to the contrary, Jimmy took the money for himself. He does promise that he'll support her to get Howard to let her out of doc review because she's a far too capable lawyer to be dismissed ("Rebecca"). Kim and Jimmy's relationship is still on the rocks, but Jimmy has begun to send her messages of him singing to her. Kim finds herself looking forward to them, smiling as she hears his bad singing. She misses him. Kim is now, thanks to Chuck, back in her old office. Howard is still not impressed with her, but puts up a front for the clients. He sends her to battle a hopeless motion in the Sandpiper case, not telling her that she'd be doing so alone. She fights it well enough to attract the attention of Richard Schweikart, the head lawyer of the firm representing Sandpiper, Schweikart and Cokely. He invites her to lunch. Kim, although wary, accepts the offer and Schweikart talks about what happened. He too was once over looked by the senior partners of the firm he first worked at and left to argue a hopeless case by himself. He felt what she did, that he was beholden to the people who paid for his college. He makes an astonishing offer: he would pay off her remaining loans and hire her on, putting her on cases away from Sandpiper to avoid conflicts of interest. Given room to consider the offer, Kim returns to work. Howard's oppressive mood is hitting Kim in the face, particularly when his secretary brings him papers that she has to do over her lunch. She refuses, ditching the office and returning to the restaurant where Schweikart made his offer, even ordering the drink that he had. Sitting at the bar, thinking, Kim meets the eye of a man who is also at the bar. He buys her a drink and while she's not really impressed she smiles and invites him over. Then she's calling Jimmy, using his phrasing to entice him to come down to her and being "Viktor" ("Bali Ha'i"). Breaking Bad Kim, along with Chuck, Howard,Daniel/Pryce and Nacho haven't had any part in the Breaking Bad storyline yet. There has yet to be any information at that time for any of these characters. Trivia *Kim never meets Mike Ehrmantraut, Nacho Varga and Gustavo Fring. Appearances ''Better Call Saul'' es:Kim Wexler Category:Better Call Saul characters Category:Protagonists Category:Status: Alive Category:Law enforcements